Basic money management is very important throughout a person’s life since it results in a lifetime of good financial decisions. It may seem difficult to budget the money, but the fact is anyone can achieve good money management by proactive budgeting, disciplined saving and common sense spending. Here we provide three good money saving management tips for those who don’t know how to start.

1. Set a realistic budget.

Setting a realistic and actionable budget is the first step of money management. Why some people create a budget but never stick to it? That is because their budgets are not set in a realistic and actionable fashion. Simply create random numbers for budget is no use and you should seriously create your budget goals for each spending category. To get the more precise amount of spending under different categories, you can track and review your most recent bills for at least a month and set the budget based on that. Then, try to find ways to reduce some of the spending that may be reasonable in your current situations. For example, if you dine out five times per week, you can start to reduce it to three the next week and try to make it twice or once the next week. If you directly go from all to nothing, you may get easily failed, hence begin with small changes.

2. Live a frugal life.

The most basic idea to manage your financial life and have some savings for future is always spending less than you earn. However, this simple concept is lost in many American families. Please figure out ways to live a frugal lifestyle that works for your time and situations. For example, if you have the time and knowledge, you can DIY to make your homemade detergent to cut the related cost, but this may not be achievable for others. You can also think about alternatives to cut the household spending including cutting the cable bill by watching free online shows, surfing on coupon website and using coupons as much as possible in grocery stores, removing premium services from your cell phone plan, and shopping around for lower rates for utilities and insurance.

3. Save for your future.

In order to ensure a financially bright future for every family, an emergency fund that contains at least three to six months worth of expenses has to be established. The fund can be used in any situations of unexpended bills or brief period of layoffs. In addition, every family should also have a bigger saving fund for retirement. Some companies offer high or even matching benefits to employees who contribute to their retirement plans. Regardless, a family should at least have one retirement account and start to save as much as possible into the account.